Jennifer Saint Collection 2 Books Set (Ariadne, [Hardcover] Elektra)

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Perhaps Eirene suppressed a smile, but she did not let me see. Instead, she gently shifted me away from Phaedra and took up the comb herself. “And why would they do such a thing?” Enchanting…Saint expertly highlights how often the women of this world pay the price for the actions of the men around them. Lovers of mythology should snap this up.” Stories told that, at the moment of her drowning, Scylla was transformed into a seabird. Far from giving her escape from her cruel fate, she was immediately set upon in an endless chase by the crimson-streaked eagle bent upon eternal vengeance. I could well believe the truth of it, for the gods did enjoy a prolonged spectacle of pain. The story continues to follow the separate lives of the two sisters until they meet again years later when it is apparent that both women bear the scars of sorrow, love, betrayal and now deep seeded suspicion of each other as the events that shaped them now threatens to pull them apart. When you read Greek Mythology, you know tragedy is just lurking around the corner and this book is no different.

I will talk about events in the novel without spoilers aside from things that line up with the original myths and, thus, are not spoilers because you can look it up on Wikipedia or Theoi . com or if you truly want to know nothing about the events of the myth or this book, maybe skip my review. When Ariadne falls in love with Dionysus: "He showed me that he was truly the best of all men, of all gods."I would be Medusa, if it came to it, I resolved. If the gods held me accountable one day for the sins of someone else, if they came for me to punish a man’s actions, I would not hide away like Pasiphae. I would wear that coronet of snakes, and the world would shrink from me instead.

I would not say this was a feminist retelling in any way, honestly, so I would warn others who might read it for such things (as it has been advertised as such) as Ariadne makes one decision in the beginning of the book and then becomes a brittle leaf in the wind, blowing which ever way at the mercy of the men around her. When going into this book, I was not expecting the perspective of Phaedra, but I fully loved this too. Phaedra is the younger sister of Ariadne and her story is mostly told by Euripides in “Hippolytus” and Ovid’s “Heroides”. Phaedra is also explored in “Pandora’s Jar” by Natalie Haynes which I read earlier this month. There aren’t as many retellings of Phaedra as there are Ariadne, and I am so glad the author provides Phaedra, as well as Ariadne, with a voice and fully fleshed out characters. No longer was my world one of brave heroes; I was learning all too swiftly the women's pain that throbbed unspoken through the tales of their feats." In a world where women are nothing more than the pawns of powerful men, will Ariadne’s decision to betray Crete for Theseus ensure her happy ending? Or will she find herself sacrificed for her lover’s ambition?

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Jennifer Saint’s beautiful debut is the reimagining of the Greek mythological story of Ariadne, Princess of Crete, daughter of King Minos and his queen Pasiphae. As a young girl, she is fond of dance, loves her younger sister Phaedra and even helps to take care of her brother Asterion (the Minotaur) when he was a baby, but unable to bear his bestiality as he grows. She grows up listening to her nursemaid’s stories about the gods, goddesses and mortal heroes whose lives have become legends. She is particularly moved by the story of Perseus and Medusa and the story behind how Medusa became a Gorgon. She is witness to her mother’s suffering brought upon by the birth of the Minotaur conceived as an act of revenge exacted by the gods against her father. She ponders over her own fate in a world where gods and men rule and women have no say in the decisions crucial to their lives and are but pawns in the hands of the men who control their fate. A mesmerising retelling of the ancient Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. Perfect for fans of CIRCE, A SONG OF ACHILLES, and THE SILENCE OF THE GIRLS. As a lover of Greek Mythology, I thought Ariadne was such a compelling story that lives up to all the expectations of Greek tragedy but also delivers a story of hope, optimism and determination as it follows the story and intriguing lives, loves and losses of Ariadne the daughter of King Minos, her sister Phaedra, Theseus a prince of Athens and Dionysus, the god of wine.

Though the ending fell extremely flat to me and was ultimately disappointing, the writing itself wasn’t completely terrible, (it certainly wasn’t great, and to compare this book to Madeline Miller is hubris and punishable by the gods) and the first half as it followed the myth was alright. Ariadne’s viewpoints of how unfair it is that gods always target women for the acts of men are really the only thing that would be considered “feminist.” So that saves this book from having a one star rating, but it’s still a 1.5, and because it has been my most disappointing read of the year, and still inspires rage whenever I think about this book, I’m rounding it down to one star, as it deserves. What am I supposed to take from this? That it's impossible for Ariadne to break out of the suffering that men (and gods) cause in creating their legends? She certainly doesn't try - the woman is so passive that she knows nothing about the world or about her own husband. It would be better to write this as a tragedy and show an active heroine who tries to break out of the fate set for her, and who chooses Dionysus because he is interesting and powerful.The story is well known, of course, but Saint tells it skilfully and, like Miller and Haynes, gives a twist to familiar myth by offering the perspective of women characters.' - The Sunday Times An ancient story of love and sisterhood reimagined, Jennifer Saint's Ariadne is a truly masterful debut—compulsive, absorbing and lyrical. Saint breathes new life into the forgotten women of Greek mythology with a novel that's both incredibly absorbing, and full of heart.”